Mac vs PC - Serious considerations...

aries2580

aries2580

aries2580

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Ok hey all. I apologize in advance for the hate this thread my potentially unleash...

Ok So atm i own an old 17" Macbook pro (2.5GHz Core2Duo, 4GB 667 CL4, 250GB HD, 8600M GT)

I'm looking for a serious upgrade.

I would consider myself a 'Nerd/geek' whatever you want to call it. I know my way around a computer, regardless of the OS and built a few PC's in the past which i have sold on.

Umm uses for the computer would be -
Photoshop CS4
Lots of high quality movie encoding (something which at the minute i have to wait AGES to complete, so i have given up)
Games (not just casual gaming. I would see myself as being quite serious about gaming.)
Listening to music (i have a few music projects on the go, nothing serious but they do exist and i swear by Logic for the mac)
Programming with VB atm but i hope to move onto bigger things once i have mastered the basics. iphone SDK is very tempting.

But i have really been questioning the whole mac vs pc thing...

And as i see it at the minute the pc wins...

1. Photoshop - runs on both platforms, yet with the pc i can customize my hardware and get the very latest processors and GFX cards... With a Mac i'm left with what mr jobs tells me to use. :mad:

2. The only games i play on my Mac are WOW and SC... Hardly a gaming nirvana. I know that you can run windows natively, but yet again. I'm left with the crappy hardware that MR JOBS tells me to freaking use... :mad: (apart from the MacPro with its i7Processors and ATI 4870 - Yet all horribly over priced. Maybe the TCO is greater i dunno)

3. Video encoding. Quad cores.... All the mac lineup are dual core processors unless i decide to spend 2 grand on a mac pro... Which is not bloody justified.

4. for all my music work on logic and possible iphone SDK work in the future i have my current macbook pro...


I really FAIL to see where all the crap about "mac = designer" comes from. With a PC i get the choice of MY hardware and all the software runs on it anyway... With a mac I get the EXACT same software but lesser hardware which i have to pay through the bloody teeth for...

I can see the advantage of a mac for music and video editing. Final cut and Logic are brilliant programs and their use in the industries that they occupy are a testament to how great they are. (but note the people are all using mac pros)

There are two things I can see that benefit the mac.

1. OSX - It is better. No matter which way you look at it.
2. Security

And to be honest. With windows there are usually two rules of thumb i used to stick to. Never use IE, and dont visit stupid sites... Never have had a virus attack in all my years...

It seems like i have been rambling for a while but if any of you have an opinion or would like to help me decide what the hell to do please post.
 
But it just works!

Uhm, yeah. I'd go for a PC any time, unless I absolutely needed a mac (although technically a mac IS a PC - personal computer). Not because I prefer windows, definitely not, just because it's so much cheaper to get the same performance.
 
D D Danneh said:
But it just works!

Uhm, yeah. I'd go for a PC any time, unless I absolutely needed a mac (although technically a mac IS a PC - personal computer). Not because I prefer windows, definitely not, just because it's so much cheaper to get the same performance.
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the same and often better in my eyes... Unless Photoshop magically runs faster on a mac?

From what i have read it is a ported PC version anyway... so not likely
 
aries2580 said:
1. Photoshop - runs on both platforms, yet with the pc i can customize my hardware and get the very latest processors and GFX cards... With a Mac i'm left with what mr jobs tells me to use. :mad:

2. The only games i play on my Mac are WOW and SC... Hardly a gaming nirvana. I know that you can run windows natively, but yet again. I'm left with the crappy hardware that MR JOBS tells me to freaking use... :mad: (apart from the MacPro with its i7Processors and ATI 4870 - Yet all horribly over priced. Maybe the TCO is greater i dunno)
Click to expand...

Wow, dunno why you are seemingly blaming Steve Jobs for hardware you are using? It's like he is holding a gun to your head and is forcing you to use it.

You bought a Laptop, not a desktop pc. What laptops can you upgrade the graphics and CPU with ease?

You're sounding like a spoilt brat in all honesty...

EDIT - And yeah, the Mac Pro isn't overpriced at all. Price up a Dell equivalent and take a look for yourself. It may be expensive but it most definitely isn't over priced.
 
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You're sounding like a spoilt brat in all honesty...
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So because i worked hard and saved for my computer i'm spoilt?
It took me a long time to get this computer and i treat it better than anything i own
I just fail to see why 'macs are for designers' and 'PC's are for business people & gamers'
 
I would consider a Mac if mobility was an issue for me, but for the price I really dont see myself getting one when you consider the price for the hardware you get.

Its a common misconception to assume that any OS is more secure than any other, of course the chances of misfortune on a PC is higher but I think in the next 5 years all the smug Mac users might be in for a shock.

As you can tell I lean more towards PC, I do like the Mac design, and I do like the OS but I've never found it amazingly better than Windows or some of the better Linux distros. For the price of a Mac I think they are taking the wee wee.

If I were you I would consider waiting a few months for Windows 7 then building a new rig for that. PCs have the expandability and compatability.

From the OP it sounds like you are swaying towards Mac anyway
 
Unless you have to have a computer that looks like sex and you can't live without Mac OS, get a PC, basically.

I'm much more on the fence these days than I used to be. As a graphic designer, I appreciate the aesthetic beauty and function of Macs, but the OS irritates me because it's too restrictive. Maybe it's too many years of using Windows.

There's also the cost of the Mac. Although it's difficult to compare a high-end workstation with a custom-built desktop PC, my computer is much quicker than a Mac that costs over £1000 more. As you said yourself, you also end up with the precise parts you want, not what someone else specifies.

I guess you just have to balance the pros and cons respective to your personal situation. For me, right now, a Mac isn't worth it.
 
aries2580 said:
So because i worked hard and saved for my computer i'm spoilt?
It took me a long time to get this computer and i treat it better than anything i own
I just fail to see why 'macs are for designers' and 'PC's are for business people & gamers'
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Yeah, maybe the words i used were a tad harsh! :p

The main reason i use a macintosh is for Logic, Aperture and PS.

I guess the main reason people use them in the industries is because they are stable, the core OS doesn't crash and time is money. If i'm recording 24 tracks with a live band and i only have one take i really don't want it to crash!

I find my productivity is much higher on a macintosh, the ease of use and programs that i use on mine save me a huge amount of time compared to the PC counterparts.

I have always looked at PC's again and thought "OooOOooo That's cheap!" but then i always decide against it as for me it's false economy.

If money is really the issue, and it sounds as though it is, then get HE discount on it and save 14%! :p
 
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I used to be a massive mac hater, never used one; but compared the specs and laughed a superior laugh.

I then used my friend's macbook pro - basically same specs as your's, and I was blown away by the sweet interface and brilliantly designed apple programs. I swear, if I only needed a computer for a combination of web use, word processing, video/audio/image editing and media playing - I would go mac every time.

However, I am an avid gamer and I get a kick out of building and overclocking computers so I pretty much need a PC. You seem to be in a similar situation as me, except you have a lovely macbook pro to do all your mac stuff on.

My recommendation for a new computer to play games is: Windows 7 RC(comes out in may), Intel core i7, Nvidia gtx260 216/ ATI 4870 1GB. That system would come close to Mac pro levels of performance (especially when overclocked) and play all the games you can throw at it.
 
I dare you to post this in the apple forum.
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you are forgiven :D *shakes hand*

You see i can see your point about using it for Aperture...

Ok here is a question. on your unibody. Would you notice a difference in photoshop tasks compared to pc's you have used in the past etc?
 
I'm sorry but I would just like to comment on a couple of things.

aries2580 said:
There are two things I can see that benefit the mac.

1. OSX - It is better. No matter which way you look at it.
2. Security
Click to expand...

In terms of security, then Windows Vista is a very secure operating system by default.

And to be honest. With windows there are usually two rules of thumb i used to stick to. Never use IE, and dont visit stupid sites... Never have had a virus attack in all my years...
Click to expand...

Since the arrival of Internet Explorer 7 and even more so now with Internet Explorer 8, it really isn't any less secure than the other alternatives such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari etc. In fact, in Windows Vista, you could consider it one of the most safest browsers to use since it runs as a low integrity process by default and can only write to a few specific locations. Which means, if the browser does get compromised, the attacker is completely locked down thus severely limiting the damage that can be done.

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Moving on...

As Logsi has already said, you will get a bit of a biased opinion in these parts of the forum since a lot of the people that venture into this part will be using a Windows based system like myself. On the other hand though, if you post in the Apple section, you will get a bias view there.

Just some advice though, don't create an exact copy of this thread in the Apple section since duplicate threads are not allowed. If you do then one of the threads will be locked.
 
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